Sylvia’s Comments.
We were being collected at 9.45 am for our six and a half hour trip along Farewell Spit to the Gannet Colony. Mindful of the times we have sat in tour buses waiting for people who are late arriving at the correct time, I was eager to ensure we were not late. Jeff on the other hand did his usual dawdling thing and seemed to take ages, but we were at the front of the camp site on time. Our tour bus was late and we found out that they had waited for a couple who did not turn up.
Our guide today was Kersten, who originally...

We awoke at 5am sharp because low tide was at 4am and we had to cross by 6am at the latest. We got ready, packed up and ate in the dark (our "torches" were an absolute joke but we did not know they were lousy until right about now!) It was very cold this morning and we had to cross barefoot because the water never fully recedes, there are many places at least ankle deep. The shells were everywhere and very sharp and our feet were numb from the cold, cold water. But the crossing was so amazing. The sky at sunrise was phenomenal, by far the...

So my last few days in New Zealand. Spent a few days at Punakaiki where the rather unimpressive pancake rocks were apparently they have fantastic blow holes but I can assure you there was no blowing when I was there. Chloe and I went kayaking up a river gorge which was stunning lots of native New Zealand bush lining the banks and crystal clear water. (Chloe has been an absolute life saver since Dave left she got on in Queenstown and is a criminal barrister from Leeds with a coronation street obsession true to her Blackpool routes and accent...

We drove early to The Farewell Spit where we managed to fit in all 3 walks over the course of the morning. We explored the farmland complete with cows and sheep to get to fossil point the only part of the spit you can walk on without being on a guided tour. We ventured up the rocky hill in the rain to the lighthouse for a view of the spit and Lou braved a trip in high winds to the beautiful Waiheri beach as Paul had hurt his foot ahhh didums. Unfortunately as we all know Lou has no sense of direction and couldn't remember how to get back to...